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THE ROMANCERS 



THE ROMANCERS 

A Comedy in Three Acts 


BY 

EDMOND ROSTAND 


TRANSLATED BY MARY HENDEE 



NEW YORK 

DOUBLEDAY AND McCLURE CO. 

1899 ♦ 1 

, » * 


FIRST COPY, 



Copyright , i8gq 
Doubleday and McClure Co. 


TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 



SEntbcrsitg ^rcss 


John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S. A. 


i 


Persons of the Play 

V 

SYLVETTE 

PERCINET 

STRAFOREL 

BERGAMIN, father of Percinet 
PASQUINOT, father of Sylvette 
BLAISE, a gardener 


Swordsmen, Musicians, Negroes, Torch-bearers, 
a Notary, four Bourgeois, etc. 


The scene is laid where you willy provided 
the costumes be pretty 



The Romancers 


Act First 

The stage is cut in two by an old wall, 
mossy and garlanded with luxuriant vines. 
To the right , a corner of Bergamins 
park; to the left , a corner of Pasquinofs. 
On each side , against the wall , a bench. 

SCENE I 

Sylvette. Percinet. 

When the curtain rises , Percinet is seated 
on the wall , with a book on his knees , 
from which he is reading to Sylvette. 
She stands on the bench in her father’s 
park , her chin in her hands , her elbows 
against the wall , listening attentively. 

Sylvette 

O Monsieur Percinet, how beautiful 
it is ! 

l 


l 


The Romancers 


[Act i 


Percinet 

Isn’t it? Hear Romeo’s reply! ( He 
reads.) 

“It was the lark, the herald of the 
morn, 

No nightingale : look, love, what envious 
streaks 

Do lace the severing clouds in yonder 
east: 

Night’s candles are burnt out, and 
jocund day 

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain 
tops : 

I must be gone. . . 

Sylvette (alert, with animation) 

Sh! 

Percinet ( listens a moment, then ) 

No one ! So, mademoiselle, don’t 
have the air of an affrighted birdling 
on a branch, ready to spread wing at 
the slightest sound. Hear the immortal 
lovers talking: 


2 


Scene I] The Romancers 

She. “Yon light is not day-light, I 
know it, I : 

It is some meteor that the sun exhales, 

To be to thee this night a torchbearer.” 

He. “ Let me be ta’en, let me be put 
to death ; \ 

I am content, so thou wilt have it so. 

1 11 say yon gray is not the morning’s eye ; 

’T is but the pale reflex of Cynthia’s 
brow ; 

Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do 
beat 

The vaulty heaven so high above our 
heads ; 

I have more care to stay than will to go : 

Come, death, and welcome ! J uliet wills 
it so.” 


Sylvette 

Oh, no ! I won’t have him talk of 
that ; if he does, I shall cry. 


Percinet 

Then we ’ll shut our book till to-mor- 
row, and, since you wish it, let sweet 
3 


The Romancers [Act I 

Romeo live. {He closes the booh and 
looks about him.) 

What an adorable spot ! It seems to 
be made for lulling one’s self to the 
lines of the great William. 

Sylvette 

Yes, the lines are very beautiful, and 
the divine murmur in the branches ac- 
companies them well, it is true. Yes, 
Monsieur Percinet, the lines are very 
beautiful, but what makes their beauty 
more touching to me is your reading 
them in your musical voice. 

Percinet 

Base flatterer ! 

Sylvette {sighing') 

Ah, poor lovers ! how cruel their fate ! 
How unkind people were to them ! {A 
sigh.) It makes me think . . . 

Percinet {eagerly) 

Of what? 

Sylvette 


Nothing ! 


4 


Scene I] The Romancers 

Percinet 

Of something that sends you sud- 
denly very rosy ! 

Sylvette (as before) 

Nothing ! 

Percinet {shaking his finger at her) 

Oh ! the dissembler — with the too 
transparent eyes! ... I see of what 
you are thinking ! {Lowers his voice.) 
Of our parents. 

Sylvette 

Perhaps . . . 

Percinet 

Of your father, of mine and the hatred 
that divides them ! 

Sylvette 

Ah, yes ! it is that which pains me, 
that which often makes me weep in 
secret. Last month, when I came home 
from the convent, my father pointed 
toward your father’s park, and said: 

5 


r s- 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


“ My dear child, you see here the lair of 
my mortal enemy, Bergamin. Promise 
avoid that villain and his son, and to 
their enemy forever, or I ’ll disown 
you; for their race has always exe- 
crated yours.” I made the promise ; 
you see, monsieur, how I keep it. 

Percinet 

And did not I, too, promise my father 
to hate you always, Sylvette ? . . . and 
I love you ! 

Sylvette 
Holy Virgin ! 

Percinet 
And I love thee, child ! 

Sylvette 

’T is a sin ! 


Percinet 

A great sin! But what could be 
expected? The more one is forbidden 
to love a person, the more desire he has 
to do it. . . . Kiss me, Sylvette ! 

6 


Scene I] The Romancers 

Sylvette 

Oh, never! {She jumps off the bench 
and retreats.) 

Percinet 
Yet you love me. 

Sylvette 
What does he say ? 

Percinet 

Dear child, I say that against which 
your heart still protests, but which to 
doubt longer were a delusion. I say 
. . . what you yourself but just now 
said, yes, you yourself, Sylvette, in 
comparing the lovers of Verona to 
these two children here. 

Sylvette 
I did n’t compare. . . . 

Percinet 

Yes, dear; your father and my father, 
to Juliet’s father and Romeo’s. So we 
are Romeo and Juliet, and so we love 
7 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


each other madly ; and in spite of their 
bitter hate, I brave at once Pasquinot- 
Capulet, Bergamin-Montague ! 

Sylvette ( coming a little nearer 

the wall ) 

Then we love each other? But how, 
Monsieur Percinet, has it come about 
so quickly? 

Percinet 

Love is born — one knows not how 
nor why — when it should be born. I 
often saw you passing by my window. 

Sylvette 

And I you. 

Percinet 

And our eyes communed by stealth. 

Sylvette 

One day, there, by the wall, I was 
gathering nuts. By chance — 

Percinet 

By chance, I was reading Shakespeare, 
there. And to unite our two hearts, see> 
how everything conspired ! 

8 


Scene I] The Romancers 

Sylvette 

The wind caught up, psst! my rib- 
bon, and blew it over to you. 

Percinet 

To return it, I climbed on the bench. 

Sylvette { climbing ) 

And I climbed on the bench. 

Percinet 

And every day since, little one, I 
have waited for you, and every day my 
heart beats faster, till there goes up, oh, 
blessed signal ! there behind the wall, 
your sweet, aerie laugh, which has not 
died away, when your head emerges 
from the trembling tangle of the wild 
virgin vine ! 

Sylvette 

Since we love each other, we must be 
engaged. 

Percinet 

*T is precisely what I was thinking. 

9 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Sylvette ( solemnly ) 

Last of the Bergamins, to you the last 
of the Pasquinots allies herself ! 

Percinet 

Noble folly! 

Sylvette 

Future ages will talk of us. 

Percinet 

Too tender children of too cruel 
fathers ! 

Sylvette 

Yet who knows, my friend, perhaps 
the hour is sounding, when Heaven 
wills that through us their hatred shall 
be dissolved? 


Percinet 

I doubt it. 

Sylvette 

But I — I have faith in fortune, and 
I see already five or six possible solu- 
tions. 


10 


Scene I] The Romancers 


Pelicinet 

Really ? And what ? 

Sylvette 

Well, suppose — in more than one 
old romance I ’ve read the like — sup- 
pose the Reigning Prince comes to spend 
the day. I run to entreat him, tell him 
of our love, of the old feud between 
our fathers. — A king surely married 
Rodrigue and ChimSne. — The Prince 
summons my father and Monsieur Ber- 
gamin, and reconciles them. 

Percinet 

And gives me your hand. 

Sylvette 

Or again, it might turn out as in 
Peau d’Ane. You are wasting away. 
A stupid doctor condemns you to die. 

Percinet 

My father, distracted, cries, “What 
do you want ? v 


11 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Sylvette 

You say, “I want Sylvette ! ” 

Percinet 

And his stubborn pride is constrained 
to bend. 

Sylvette 

Or again, another adventure. An old 
duke, having seen somewhere a painting 
of me, loves me, and sends a splendid 
equerry in his name, who offers to make 
me a duchess. 


Percinet 

Then, you say “ No ! ” 

Sylvette 

He is angry. One beautiful night, in 
some sombre path of the park, where I 
have gone to dream of you, I am seized ! 
I cry out ! 

Percinet 

And without delay, I arrive. I draw 
my dagger, fight like a lion, cut down — 


Scene I] The Romancers 

Sylvette 

Three or four men. My father rushes 
up, takes you in his arms. You tell 
your name, he softens, gives me to my 
rescuer, and your father, proud of your 
valor, consents. 

Percinet 

And we live happy together ever 
after ! 

Sylvette 

There ’s nothing impossible about it, 
it seems to me. 

Percinet ( hearing a noise ) 

Some one is coming ! 

Sylvette (losing her head ) 

Kiss me ! 

Percinet ( kissing her ) 

And to-night, at the hour of prayers, 
you will come ? — Say it ! 

Sylvette 

No! 

13 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Percinet 

Yes! 

Sylvette ( disappearing behind the 
wall) 

Your father! (Percinet jumps briskly 
down.) 


SCENE II 

Sylvette, behind the wall , and consequently 
invisible to Bergamin. Percinet. Ber- 

GAMIN. 

Bergamin 

I find you alone again, dreaming in 
this corner of the park ? 

Percinet 

Father, I adore this corner of the park. 
I love to sit on this bench sheltered 
by the overhanging vines of the wall. 
Do you see how graceful the vine is? 
Notice these festoons with their shapely 
arabesques. . . One breathes here such 
a pure air ! 


14 


Scene II] The Romancers 


Bergamin 
In front of this wall ? 

Percinet 
I adore the wall ! 


Bergamin 

I don’t see what there"ls adorable 
about it. ( 

Sylvette {aside) 

He can not see ! 


Percinet 

But it is an admirable old wall, crested 
with green, festooned, here with ivy, 
there with scarlet creeper, again with 
the snail-flower’s mauve velvet panicles, 
and here with honeysuckle, and there 
with woodbine : — this old, crumbling 
centenary of a wall, whose cracks let 
out into the sunshine, strange, rough, 
mane-like growths, stellated with charm- 
ing little flowers ! — this wall on which 
the moss is of a thickness to make for 
the humble bench sunk in its side, a 
back fit for a king’s throne! 

15 


The Romancers [Act I 

Berg amin 

Ta, ta, youngster! Would you have 
me believe you come here for the sake 
of the wall’s beautiful eyes ? 

Percinet 

Yes, the wall’s beautiful eyes ! ( Turns 
toward the wall.') Very beautiful eyes 
they are ! . . . Fresh, azure smiles, 
sweet blue astonishments, clear, deep 
flower eyes, you touch our hearts ! If 
ever tears empearl your chalices, we ’ll 
distil them with a kiss ! 

Berg amin 

But the wall has n’t eyes ! 

Percinet 

It has morning-glories ! (He quickly 
breaks off a flower and presents it grace- 
fully to Bergamin .) 

Syrvette 

Is he not spirituelle ! 

16 


Scene II] The Romancers 


Bergamin 

He ’s a fool ! — But I know what 
makes him lose his head. ( Movement 
of consternation on the jpart of Sylvette 
and Percinet'). You come here to read 
in secret. ( Takes the book sticking out 
of Percinefs focket , and looks at the 
back.') Plays! ( Opens it, and lets it 
fall with horror.) In verse! Poetry! 
No wonder your head is topsy-turvy ! 
No wonder you wander off to dream, 
and talk of woodbine, and see blue eyes 
in the wall ! A wall has no need to be 
pretty, but strong. I ’ll have all those 
green things taken off ; they might hide 
some breach : and to better guard us 
from an insolent neighbor, I ’ll have this 
side re-mortared — build a fine white 
wall, very white, very smooth, very 
trim. In place of — woodbine, I ’ll have 
grooves cut in the plaster, and dress out 
the wall with bits of broken bottles, 
sharp as steel, set in serried ranks. . . .* 

Percinet 

Mercy ! 

2 


17 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Bergamin 

No mercy ! I ’ll have it like that ! 
All along, all along, all along the top ! 

Sylvette and Percinet (in con - 
sternation) 

Oh! 

Bergamin ( seating himself on the 
bench) 

Come, let’s talk! ( He gets up and 
walks away from the wall.) Hm ! walls, 
if they have n’t eyes, have ears. (He 
starts to mount the bench. Affright of 
Percinet. At the movement , Sylvette 
crouches against the wall. But Bergamin 
gives up, with a grimace , and motions for 
his son to mount instead.) See if some 
inquisitive — 

Percinet (climbing lithely on the bench, 
and hanging over the wall ; low , to Syl- 
vette , who springs up again) 

Until to-night ! 


18 


Scene II] The Romancers 

Sylvette (< giving him her hand , which 
he kisses ; very low) 

I will come before the hour strikes. 

Percinet ( the same) 

I shall be there. 

Sylvette ( the same) 

I adore you ! 

Bergamin (i to Percinet ) 

Well? 

Percinet (springing to the ground ; 
aloud ) 

No one ! 

Bergamin (reassured, sits down again) 

Then let ’s talk. My son, I wish you 
to marry. 

Sylvette 

Ah! 

Bergamin 


What ’s that ? 


19 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Percinet 

Nothing. 

Bergamin 
I heard a feeble cry. 

Percinet ( looking up) 
Some wounded bird — 


Sylvette 

Alas ! 

Percinet 

Among the branches. 

Bergamin 

Well then, my son, after mature re- 
flection, I ’ve made a choice for you. 

Percinet (goes up the stage whistling) 
Tee! tee! 

Bergamin ( after an instant of suffoca- 
tion) 

I am determined: I shall force you, 
sir ! 


20 


Scene II] The Romancers 


Percinet ( coming back') 

Tee ! tee ! tee ! tee ! 

Bergamin 

Will you stop whistling, wretched 
blackbird ! . . . A woman still young, 
and very rich. A pearl ! 

Percinet 

And if I don’t want your pearl ! 

Bergamin 

Wait ! I ’ll show you, miscreant ! 

Percinet ( lowering his father's raised 
cane) 

Spring has filled the hedges with the 
sound of wings, and the wood streams 
see little birds in couples lighting on 
their banks to caress each other. 

Bergamin 

Shameless fellow ! 

Percinet ( same action ) 

All things laugh and welcome new- 
born April. The butterflies — 

21 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Berg amin 

Profligate ! 

Percinet ( same action) 

Flock across the fields to wed the 
flowers they love. Love itself — 

Bergamot 

Outlaw ! 

Percinet ( same action ) 

Puts all hearts in flower; and you 
would see me make a marriage of con- 
venience ! 


Bergamin 
Yes, certainly, monster! 

Percinet 

Well then, no, no, my father. I 
swear ... by this wall — which hears 
me, I hope — to marry so roman- 
tically, that there never will be seen 
in any romance anything more madly 
romantic ! (He takes to flight.) 

22 


Scene III] The Romancers 

Berg amin ( running after him ) 

Oh, I ’ll catch you ! 

SCENE III 

Sylvette, then Pasquinot. 
Sylvette ( alone ') 

Really, I almost understand papa’s 
hatred of that wretch. 

Pasquinot ( entering ) 

Well, what might you be doing here, 
mademoiselle ? 

Sylvette 

Nothing. I ’m walking. 

Pasquinot 

Here ? alone ? But, unhappy girl ! 
you ’re not afraid then ? 

Sylvette 

I ’m not timid, Papa. 

23 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Pasquinot 

Alone, near this wall ! But I forbid 
you to approach it! Imprudent child, 
look well at that park ! You behold 
there the retreat of my mortal enemy ! 

Sylvette 

I know, Father. 

Pasquinot 

And you expose yourself to insulting 
words, to — Does anyone know of what 
these people are capable ? If that 
blackguard or his son knew that my 
daughter comes alone to dream under 
these elms — oh, the very thought of it 
makes me shudder ! But I ’m going to 
sheathe the wall, barb it, bristle it with 
iron, so that anyone trying to scale it 
shall be impaled, disembowelled, and 
that spikes shall enter his flesh if he so 
much as approach it. 

Sylvette (aside) 

He won’t do it; it would cost too 
much. Papa is a little close. 

24 


Scene IV] The Romancers 
Pasquinot 

Do go in, quick ! ( She goes. He fol- 

lows her with wrathful eyes) 

SCENE IV 

Bergamin. Pasquinot. 

Bergamin ( speaking into the wing) 

This note to Monsieur Straforel, im- 
mediately. 

Pasquinot ( runs briskly to the wall , and 
climbs up) 

Bergamin ! 

Bergamin ( does the same ) 
Pasquinot! ( They embrace.) 

Pasquinot 
How goes it ? 

Bergamin 

Pretty well. 

25 


The Romancers [Act I 

Pasquinot 

How ’s your gout ? 

Bergamin 

Better. And your influenza ? 

Pasquinot 

The animal grips me always. 

Bergamin 

Well, sir, the marriage is made ! 

Pasquinot 

Eh? 

Bergamin 

I hid in the shrubbery and heard 
everything. They adore each other ! 

Pasquinot 

Hurray ! 

Bergamin 

Let’s hasten affairs. ( He rubs his 
hands.') Ha ! ha ! Both widowers and 
both fathers, I of a son whom his 
mother, a little too romantic, named 
Percinet — 


26 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

Pasquinot 

Yes, it is a grotesque name. 
Bergamin 

You of a dreamy girl, Sylvette, of 
the azure soul. What was our aim, the 
sole and only ? 

Pasquinot 
To get rid of this wall. 

Bergamin 
To live together — 

Pasquinot 

And merge our two estates in one. 
Bergamin 

Scheme of old friends — 

Pasquinot 
And property-holders. 

Bergamin 

For success, what was necessary ? 

27 


The Romancers 


[Act i 


Pasquinot 

To marry our children. 

Bergamin 

To marry them, yes, but should we 
be triumphant, if they had suspected it ? 
Marriage without obstacles is n’t tempt- 
ing to two such poetic young simpletons. 
Profiting from the fact that they had 
grown up far from here, we hid our 
project of a union, and reflecting that 
to hinder them from seeing each other 
was the surest means of bringing them 
together, that ’t would please them to 
think they were stealing their sweets, 
I invented this admirable hatred. You 
doubted the success of such an un- 
heard-of plan. Well, sir, we ’ve noth- 
ing more to do but say yes ! 

Pasquinot 

Good ! But how — how be adroit 
enough to consent without rousing their 
suspicions ? . . . I who called you trick- 
ster, dotard J — 


2S 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

Berg amin 

Trickster sufficed: never go beyond 
justice. 

Pasquinot 

What pretext . . . ? 

Bergamin 

Listen ! Your daughter herself has 
just suggested the final stroke, and 
while she was talking to Percinet I 
sketched my plot. They have a ren- 
dezvous here to-night. Percinet will 
arrive first. The moment Sylvette ap- 
pears, masked men, who have been in 
hiding, seize her. She cries out. Then 
my young buck rushes on the ravishers, 
and attacks with his sword. They pre- 
tend to flee. You arrive. I appear. 
Your daughter and her honor are safe. 
Your joy overflows. You let fall a few 
tears, bless the heroic rescuer, I relent : 
— tableau ! 

Pasquinot 

Ah, that ’s genius ! . . . Oh, no, for 
example ! . . . Genius ! 

29 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Bergamin ( modest ) 

Eh? ... Yes . . . something like it — 
Hush ! Notice that man coming ! It ’s 
Straforel, the swordsman. I wrote to 
him just now about my plan. He’s 
going to put the play on the boards. 
(Straforel, in a gorgeous costume, ap- 
pears at the bach of the stage, and comes 
majestically forward.j 

SCENE V 

The Same. Straforel. 

Bergamin {getting down from the vjall 
and bowing) 

Hm! Let me first make you ac- 
quainted with my friend Pasquinot. 

Straforel ( bowing ) 

Monsieur ! ( Upon raising his head he 

is surprised not to see Pasquinot.) 

Bergamin ( pointing him out astride 
the wallj 

There, on the wall. 

30 


Scene V] The Romancers 
Straforel {aside) 

Astonishing exercise for a man of 
his years! 

Berg amin 

My plan appears to you . . . ? 

Straforel 

Simple. 

Bergamin 

Ah yes, you know how to compre- 
hend, to act quickly — 

Straforel 

And to be silent. 

Bergamin 

Pretense of abduction, is n’t it, and a 
feigned fight ? 

Straforel 

That is all clear. 

Bergamin 

You must have adroit swordsmen, 
who won’t wound my boy. I ’m 
31 


The Romancers [Act I 

very fond of him. He ’s my only 
child. 

Straforel 

I shall conduct the affair myself. 

Bergamin 

Ah, good ! Then I have no fears. 

Pasquinot (low, to Bergamin) 

Say, ask him how much it 5 s going to 
cost. 

Bergamin (to Straforel) 

What do you charge for an abduction, 
master swordsman ? 

Straforel 

That depends, monsieur, upon the 
kind. We make abductions at almost 
all prices. But in the present case, if 
I understand aright, the cost doesn’t 
count. I should take one — of the first 
class, monsieur. 

Bergamin (dazed) 

Ah, you have several classes ! 

32 


Scene V] The Romancers 


Straforel 

Certainly ! Know, sir, that we have 
the abduction with two men in black, 
very commonplace, in a cab — that kind 
is scarcely at all in demand: a splen- 
did abduction in a court-carriage, with 
powdered and frizzled lackeys — the 
perukes come extra — with mutes, 
eunuchs, negroes, gendarmes, brigands, 
musketeers at will : abduction by 
coach, with two, three, four, five horses 
- — the number increased ad libitum : a 
quiet abduction in a berlin — a little 
sombre : the humorous abduction, in a 
bag : the romantic, by boat — but we 
must have a lake! — the Venetian, in 
a gondola — which needs a lagoon ! 
We have the abduction with or with- 
out moonlight — moonlight abductions, 
being more sought after, are dearer! 
We have the sinister abduction, with 
lightning, signals, tumult, clash of 
weapons, wide-brimmed hats, gray man- 
tles ! There ’s the brutal abduction, the 
courteous; the abduction with torches 
3 33 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


— very pretty ! — an abduction with 
masks, we call classic : the gallant 
abduction, done to music : the abduc- 
tion in a sedan chair — the gayest of 
all, monsieur, the newest and the most 
distinguished ! 

Bergamin ( scratching his head ; to 
Pasquinot') 

Let ’s see, what do you think ? 

Pasquinot 

Hm ! what do you ? 

Bergamin 

I think we ought to strike hard. So 
much the worse if it costs. Put some 
imagination into it. Have a little of 
everything. Make the abduction — 

Straforel 

Variegated? That is possible. 
Bergamin 

Let ’s give our young romancers 
enough to last them: sedan, mantles, 
torches, music, masks ! 

34 


Scene V] The Romancers 

Straforel ( writing in a note-book') 

To group these various elements, 
we ’ll have a first class, with supple- 
ments. 

Bergamin 

Yes, have it so. 

Straforel 

I shall be back very soon. But it 
is necessary that Monsieur Pasquinot 
leave his gate ajar. 

Bergamin 

He will leave it ajar. 

Straforel (bowing) 

Gentlemen, I wish you good evening. 
(As he leaves the stage) First class with 
supplements. 

( Bergamin remounts the wall , and sits 
facing Pasquinot.) 


35 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


SCENE VI 

Bergamin. Pasquinot. 

Pasquino* 

The worthy man retires in all his 
glory, without setting the price. 

Bergamin 

Never mind. The thing is done. 
The wall’s to be taken down. We 
shall have one home. 

Pasquinot 

And in winter, oh joy ! but one rent 
to pay in the city. 

Bergamin 

We ’ll do charming things in the 
park. 

Pasquinot 

We ’ll trim the yew-trees. 

Bergamin 

We’ll make gravel walks. 


Scene vi] The Romancers 


Pasquinot 

We ’ll have our monograms inter- 
laced, in flowers, in the middle of each 
bed. 

Bergamin 

As these stretches of lawn are a little 
severe — 

Pasquinot 

We’ll relieve them a bit by orna- 
ments. 

Bergamin 

We’ll have a new pond, filled with 
fish. 

Pasquinot 

We’ll have some rocks, a fountain 
— Hey, old fellow ! How does it strike 
you? 

Bergamin 

That all our vows are accomplished. 

Pasquinot 

We ’ll grow old together. 

37 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Berg amin 

Your daughter is provided for. 

Pasquinot 
Your son also. 

Berg amin 
My good Pasquinot ! 

Pasquinot 

My good Bergamin ! {They fall into 
each other's arms.) 

SCENE VII 

. The Same. Sylvette and Percinet 
come in quickly on the two sides. 

Sylvette ( seeing her father in Ber- 
gamin' s arms') 

Oh! 

Bergamin {catching sight of Sylvette ; to 
Pasquinot) 

Your daughter ! 

38 


Scene vii] The Romancers 

Percinet ( sees his father embracing 
Pasquinot) 

Ah! 

Pasquinot (perceiving Percinet ; to 
Bergamin) 

Your son ! 

Bergamin (low, to Pasquinot) 

Fight! ( They transform the embrace 
into a hand to hand scuffle. Aloud') 
Blackguard ! 

Pasquinot 

Ruffian ! 

Sylvette (pulling her father by the 
coat tails ) 

Papa ! 

Percinet (same action , to Bergamin) 
Papa ! 

Bergamin 
Let us alone, brats ! 

Pasquinot 
He insulted me ! 


39 


The Romancers [Act I 

Berg amin 
He struck me ! 


Coward ! 

Pasquinot 

Papa ! ! 

Sylvette 

Berg amin 

Villain ! 


Papa! ! 

Percinet 

Brigand ! 

Pasquinot 

Sylvette 


Papa! ! ! {They succeed in separating 
them.) 

Percinet ( hurrying his father away) 
Let ’s go into the house. It ’s late. 

Berg amin ( trying to return) 

I ’m in a towering passion ! {Percinet 
leads him off.) 


40 


Scene viii] The Romancers 

Pasquinot ( same action with Syl - 
vette) 

I ’m raging ! 

Syl vette {drawing him away) 

It is getting cold. Think of your 
rheumatism. 


SCENE VIII 

The daylight dies out. The stage is 
empty a little time, then Straforel, 
his swordsmen , musicians , etc., enter 
Pasquinot’s park. 

Straforel 

One star gleams already in the sky. 
The day ’s in flight. ( He arranges his 
men.) You there ! — you there ! — you 
there! Yes, the hour of prayers must 
be near. When the bell tolls, she 
comes, all in her white. Then I will 
whistle. ( He looks at the sky.) The 
moon? ’Tis perfect! We shall not 
miss a single effect. ( Observing the ex- 
41 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


travagant mantles of the swordsmen.) 
The cloaks are excellent. Let the 
swords raise them a little higher. Bear 
down on the hilts ! ( The sedan is 
brought in.) Put the chair here, in the 
shade. (. Perceives that the porters an 
black.') Ah! negroes! Not bad! not 
bad! (, Speaking into the wing.) The 
torches, remember, wait for the signal- 
(A vague rose light Jills the back of th( 
stage , reflected from the torches , which an 
held behind the trees. The musicians 
come in.) The musicians ? There ! 
Background of rosy light ! ( He an 
ranges them.) Grace, you know, and 
tenderness ! Vary your poses. Let 
the mandolin stand ! Sit down, Viola ! 
as in Watteau’s Rural Concert. ( Se- 
verely, to a swordsman.) First masked 
man there, what do I see ? You ’re 
lounging ? So ! Strike an attitude ! 
Good! Instruments con sordini ! Will 
you tune? . . . Oh! very good! Sol, 
mi, si ! {He masks.) 


42 


Scene ixj The Romancers 


SCENE IX 

The Same. Percinet. 

Percinet ( enters slowly . As he speaks 
the following lines , the night grows 
darker and the stars come out.') 

My father is calmed. ... I could fly 
here at last. . . . The day declines. . . . 
The floating fragrance of the elders is 
intoxicating. . . . Deepening twilight 
blots out the flowers. 

Straforel (low to the violins) 

Music ! ( The musicians play softly 

to the end of the act.) 

Percinet 

I feel myself tremble like a reed. 
What is it ? — She is coming ! 

Straforel (to the musicians) 
Amoroso ! 

43 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Percinet 

First rendezvous at night ! — I faint ! 
The breeze sounds like a silken robe. 
One sees the flowers no longer, but their 
fragrance pierces my soul and fills my 
eyes with tears ! . . . Thou grand old 
tree, thy top tipped by a star . . . 
But whence this music ? . . . The night 
has come. Yes, — 

Sweet night has come. In heaven’s 
azure deep, 

Here, there, one after one, the stars 
catch fire. 

As swells the pond’s deep, croaking 
symphony, 

They too in rich crescendo are in- 
creasing 

All round, all round the pale moon’s 
slender crescent. 

O splendid spheres of sapphire and of 
diamond, 

O stars ! I long have been your ardent 
lover, 


44 


Scene IX] The Romancers 

Made vows to you at night — en wrapt, 
exalted ! 

But now my poesy has changed its 
current ; 

For, holding naif discourse, her sweet 
forehead 

Adorned with little close-cut locks, 
Sylvette ’s here ! 

Dear stars of heaven, ye milliards there 
on high, 

Dear old familiar stars, your light is 
fair : 

But when she comes, in veils diaph- 
anous, 

Here in the garden’s mystic blue, your 
fires, 

Struck with disdain for their own proper 
light, 

Seeing her eyes, will all burn low, poor 
stars ! 


45 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


SCENE X 

The Same. Sylvette, then Bergamin 
and Pasquinot. 

Sylvette {appears at the tolling of 
the bell) 

The bell sounds for prayers. He 
must be waiting for me. (A whistle 
is blown. Straforel rises before her. 
Torches appear. Mashed men pick her 
up and put her quickly in the sedan. ) 
Help! 

Percinet 
J ust Heaven ! 

Sylvette 

Percinet ! they ’re carrying me off ! 
Percinet 

I come ! {He jumps the wall, draws 
his sword, and crosses with several masks.) 
There ! — There ! — There ! 

46 


acene x] The Romancers 

Straforel (to the musicians ) 

Tremolo ! ( The violins raise a dra- 

matic tremolo. The swordsmen escape. 
Straforel, in a theatrical tone — ) By 
Bacchus ! the child is a devil ! ( Duel 

between Straforel and Percinet. Sud- 
denly Straforel carries his hand to his 
heart . ) 

The blow ... is mortal ! ( He falls.) 

Percinet ( running to Sylvette ) 

Sylvette ! ( Tableau. She is in the 

sedan , he on his knees.) 

Sylvette 
My deliverer ! 

Pasquinot ( arriving ) 

The son of Bergamin ! Your de- 
liverer! . . . Your deliverer? ... I ’ll 
give him your hand ! 

Sylvette and Percinet 

Heaven ! (Bergamin has come in on 

his side , followed by valets with torches. ) 
47 


The Romancers 


[Act I 


Pasquinot (to Bergamin , who appears 

on the wall) 

Bergamin, your son is a hero ! Your 
pardon, and let us make them happy ! 

Bergamin {solemnly) 

My hatred abandons me ! 

Percinet 

Sylvette, we dream ! Sylvette, let 
us speak low, lest the sound of our 
voices wake us ! 

Bergamin 

Hatreds always end in marriages. 
The peace is made ! (. Pointing to the 

wall) There are no more Pyrenees ! 

Percinet 

Who could have believed my father 
would change like that ! 

Sylvette ( simply ) 

I told you it would all arrange itself. 
{While they go up the stage with Pas- 


Scene X] The Romancers 

quinot , Straforel rises and holds out a 
paper to Bergamin.) 

Bergamin [low) 

Eh? what? This paper, and your 
signature? . . . What is it, if you 
please ? 

Straforel ( bowing ) 

Monsieur, it ’s my bill ! (. He falls 

again.') 


Curtain 


4 


49 


The Romancers [Act n 


Act Second 

Same setting. The wall has disappeared. 
The benches which were against it have 
been carried right and left . Slight 

changes : great flower beds , trellised 
arbors, showy statuary , conservatory. 
To the right a garden-table and chairs. 

SCENE I 

Pasquinot, Blaise, then Bergamin. 

At the rising of the curtain Pasquinot is 
seated on the bench at the left , read- 
ing his journal. Blaise , at the back , 
is raking. 

Blaise ( raking ) 

So the notary comes this evening, 
Monsieur Pasquinot? Eh! it’s a good 
month the wall has been down and 
you all living together. — It was time ! 
— Our pretty lovers ought to be con- 
tent. 


50 


Scene I] The Romancers 

PASQUINOT ( raising his head and look- 
ing about') 

It goes well without the wall, eh, 
Blaise ? 

Blaise 

It ’s superb ! 

Pasquinot 

Yes, my park has gained, a hundred 
per cent. {He bends over and feels a 
tuft of grass.) But this grass is wet ! 
— It’s been watered, then, this morn- 
ing? (Angry.) It should be watered 
only at night, old imbecile ! 

Blaise ( placidly ) 

’T was Monsieur Bergamin ordered 
it. 

Pasquinot 

Aha ? . . . The good Bergamin . he 
won’t let go his ideas! He advocates 
sprinkling without end, rather than 
sparingly and discreetly, at just the 
right moment. Well! . . . (7b Blaise) 
Bring the plants out of the greenhouse. 

51 


The Romancers [Act II 


(. Blaise makes a row of the plants, in 
the rear ; Pasquinot reads , Bergamin ap- 
pears up the stage.') 

Bergamin ( watering the shrubbery from 
an enormous watering-pot ) 

Umph! they get only the moisture 
absolutely necessary. What does them 
good is this overplus. ( To a tree) 
Hola, old fellow ! dying of thirst ? 
Wait a minute, here’s water! Wait, 
here it is ! I’m a man that loves trees. 
( Puts down the watering-pot and looks 
about him with satisfaction .) Yes, my 
park has gained. Very pretty these 
statues, very — ( Sees Pasquinot) Good 
morning! ( No response) Good morn- 
ing! ! {No response) Good morning! ! ! 
(. Pasquinot looks up) W ell, I ’m waiting. 

Pasquinot 

Oh, my friend, but we see each other 
all the time. 

Bergamin 

Eh? . . . Oh well! (Sees Blaise 
arranging the plants.) Will you take 
52 


Scene I] The Romancers 

in those plants ! ( The bewildered Blaise 

hastens bach with them , one after another. 
Pasquinot lifts his eyes to heaven, shrugs 
his shoulders, and reads. Bergamin 
comes and goes in desultory fashion, and 
ends by sitting down beside Pasquinot. 
Silence. Then suddenly and dismally) 
Every day, at this hour, I used to slip 
out of my house — 

Pasquinot ( musingly , dropping his 
paper) 

And I out of mine, stealthily, softly 
— it was very amusing ! 

Bergamin 
The secrecy ! 

Pasquinot 
The danger ! 

Bergamin 

Percinet or Sylvette to evade each 
time we came to gossip ! 

53 


The Romancers [Act II 


Pasquinot 

We risked breaking a rib or a thigh 
every time we climbed the wall. 

Bergamin 

Our daily conversations cost us the 
cunning of an Indian ! 

Pasquinot 

We had to slip under the hedges! — 
’T was very amusing ! 

Bergamin 

Sometimes I crept along the grass, 
and at night my pants were green at 
the knees. 

Pasquinot 

Each must always be swearing death 
to the other. 

Bergamin 

Or blackening his character ! 

Pasquinot 

’T was very diverting (yawns ). Ber- 
gamin ? 


54 


Scene I] The Romancers 


Bergamin ( yawning too') 

Pasquinot ? 

Pasquinot 

We miss that now. 

Bergamin 

No! come, come! (After reflection) 
We do though. Oh, it’s ridiculous! 
Can this be the revenge of the Ro- 
mantic? (Silence. He looks at Pas- 
quinot, who is reading again.) His vest 
always lacks a button somewhere ! It ’s 
irritating ! (He gets up, moves away , 
comes and goes.) 

Pasquinot (watching him over his 
paper, aside) 

He looks like a huge maybug swirl- 
ing about, with his coat tails for wing- 
sheaths. ( When Bergamin passes in 
front of him he pretends to read.) 

Bergamin ( [observing him, aside ) 

He looks cross-eyed when he reads, 
like a jester eyeing his cap-peak. ( Goes 
up the stage whistling.) 

55 


The Romancers Act ii] 


Pasquinot ( aside , nervous ) 

He whistles ! It ’s a trick of his ! 
{Aloud.') Pray don’t whistle all the 
time, like an adder! 

Bergamin {smiling) 

We distinguish the mote in the eyes 
of others, and are unconscious of the 
beam in our own. You have pet habits 
J 

Pasquinot 

I? 

Bergamin 

You rock yourself. You’re all the 
time wheezing, king of the snufflers ! 
Your nose is always black with some 
sneeze-provoking stuff. You tell the 
same story six — twenty times a day ! 

Pasquinot {who sits with his legs crossed , 
balancing his foot) 

But — 

Bergamin 

You can’t sit an instant without 
swinging your foot like a great censer. 
56 


Scene I] The Romancers 

At table yon roll your bread crumbs up 
in little balls. A man of crotchets, my 
dear ? I should say so ! 

Pasquinot 

Yes, now you’re getting tired of 
vegetating, you have time to inventory 
me, to enumerate my faults, to draw up 
a list of them. But this life in com- 
mon is a great oculist. It has opened 
my eyes, too. I see you avaricious, 
crafty, egotistic, and each of your little 
faults grows big, as the diverting little 
fly, under the lens, becomes a frightful 
monster. 

Berg amin 

* What I suspected, I ’m sure of now. 

Pasquinot 
What ’s that ? 

Berg amin 
The wall flattered you. 

Pasquinot 

You fall far short without the wall. 

57 


The Romancers Act II] 


Bergamin 

My ardent longing to see you every 
day is cooling. 

Pasquinot ( breaking forth) 

Sir ! there ’s been no living for a 
month ! 

Bergamin (very dignified) 

Very well, sir, very well! But what 
we did was not for ourselves, you 
know. 

Pasquinot 

Indeed ! 

Bergamin 
It was for our children. 

Pasquinot (with conviction) 

Yes, certainly, for our children ! 
Then let us suffer in silence, and bear 
our loss of liberty with no repining. 

Bergamin 

To sacrifice themselves is the lot of 
parents. 


58 


Scene I] The Romancers 

(Sylvette and Percinet appear at the 
left , up the stage , among the trees , and 
slowly cross , with arms about each other's 
waists , and with exalted gestures.) 

Pasquinot 

Sh ! Here are the lovers ! 

Bergamin 

Look at those postures ! . . . They 
walk like the Olympians ! 

Pasquinot 

Since all their dreams were realized 
in that adventure, they feel aureoles 
resting on their hair. 

Bergamin 

Every day, at this hour, pensive, with 
the stately tread of love pilgrims in the 
gallant f6tes of old, they come to pay 
their vows on the site of the combat. — 
{Sylvette and Percinet , who have disap- 
peared at the right , reappear there , in a 
nearer wing , and descend the stage.) Here 
are our pilgrims ! 


59 


The Romancers Act II] 


Pasquinot 

If they rhapsodize on their usual 
theme, it will be worth hearing ! ( Ber - 

gamin and Pasquinot hide behind a 
clump of trees.) 


SCENE II 

Sylvette, Percinet; Bergamin and 
Pasquinot hidden. 

Percinet 

I love thee. * 

Sylvette 

I love you. ( They stop.) Here we 
are, at the famous spot ! 

Percinet 

Yes, ’tis here the thing happened. 
’Tis here the brute fell lifeless, trans- 
fixed by my sword. 

Sylvette 

Here I was Andromeda. 

60 


Scene II] The Romancers 


Percinet 

And here was I Perseus. 

Sylvette 

How many were there against you ? 

Percinet 

Ten. 

Sylvette 

Oh, twenty ! twenty at least, without 
counting that huge last one who turned 
on you, and whose stubborn humor you 
punished. 

Percinet 

Yes, you are right, there were at least 
thirty. 

Sylvette 

Oh! tell me once again, my victor, 
how, sword in hand, flame in your eyes, 
you struck them in the darkness ! 

Percinet 

I know not if it were in sixte or in 
quarte, but they fell like paper capu- 
chins. 


61 


The Romancers [Act n 
Sylvette 

Were your hair less blond, my friend, 
I should have thought I saw the Cid. 

Percinet 

Yes, we resemble each other. 
Sylvette 

Our romance lacks only to be put in 
a poem. 

Percinet 

Sylvette, it shall be ! 

Sylvette 

I love you ! 

Percinet 

I love thee ! 


Sylvette 

I have lived a dream ! I had so 
often vowed to myself to marry a hero, 
whom I should meet in some extraor- 
dinary fashion, and not the humdrum 
little husband of everyday life. 


Scene II] The Romancers 

Percinet 

Indeed! 

Sylvette 

No, no ! not such a one as they offer 
young girls, — the milk-and-water gen- 
tleman whom his sister or his worthy 
confessor is trying to betroth ! 

Percinet 

Above all things, I trust, you would 
not have married the inevitable son of 
a friend of your father’s. 

Sylvette ( laughing ) 

Ah, no ! . . . Have you noticed that 
for several days my father and yours are 
of a temper . . . well . . . 

Percinet 

Yes, beastly ! 

Berg AMIN (behind the shrubbery ) 

Hum ! 

Percinet 

And I know why their good humor 
is failing. 

63 


The Romancers [Act n 


Bergamin {behind the shrubbery) 

Ah? 

Percinet 

I do, indeed. Our exaltation frets 
their earth-drawn souls. I much re- 
spect my father, . . . and the author of 
your being; but they are simple bour- 
geois, of little elevation. Our glory 
rather throws them in the shade. 

Pasquinot ( behind the trees J* 

Eh? 

Sylvette 

Passes fathers of famous lovers ! 

Percinet ( laughing ) 

They find my plumes importunate. 

Sylvette 

In your presence your father has the 
vague uneasiness of a — I don’t know 
that I ought to say it . . . 

Percinet 

Go on, you rogue ! 

64 


Scene II] The Romancers 
Sylvette 

Of a duck that has bred an eagle ! 

Berg amin ( behind the shrubbery') 

Ho! ho! 

Sylvette ( laughing more gaily) 

Poor parents ! what tricks our secret 
love did play them ! 

Pasquinot (i behind the shrubbery) 

He! he! 

Percinet 

Yes, Destiny always brings lovers 
together by unforeseen windings, and 
Chance makes itself a Scapin for Lean- 
ders ! 

Bergamin ( behind the shrubbery) 

Ha! ha! 

Sylvette 

And so to-night we are to sign the 
contract ! 

Percinet ( going ujg the stage) 

I hn off to order the violins ! 

5 65 


The Romancers Act II] 


Sylvette 

Go quick ! 

Percinet 

I ’ll run ! 

Sylvette ( calling him lack) 

Wait, I ’m good. I ’m going to the 
gate with you. ( They go up the stage , 
arms entwined.) 

Sylvette ( languishing tone) 

We equal, I think, the most famous 
lovers. 


Percinet 

Yes, we shall be numbered among 
those charming immortals, Romeo and 
Juliet, Alda and Roland. 

Sylvette 

Aminta and her shepherd. 

Percinet 

Pyramus and Thisbe ! 

66 


Scene ill] The Romancers 
Sylvette 

Many and many more ! ( They go out. 
Their voices are heard , always more 
faintly , from among the trees.) 

The Voice of Percinet 
Francesca da Rimini, you know, and 
Paolo. 

The Voice of Sylvette 
Petrarch and Laura. 

Bergamin (coming out from his hiding 
place ) 

Have you finished ! 


SCENE III 

Pasquinot and Bergamin 

Pasquinot ( railing ) 

The issue of your plan, Sir Wiseman, 
equals your hope, and even outstrips 
it. Result without doubt foreseen by 
you, dear master of strategy — our child- 
ren are completely mad ! 

67 


The Romancers [Act II 


Bergamin 

Your daughter is certainly irritating 
enough with her endless chant of the 
famous abduction. 

Pasquinot 

And your son, with his vaunted 
heroism, takes on airs that don’t set at 
all well on my nerves. 

Berg amin 

But the most exasperating thing of 
all is their representing us as two 
simple, mediocre dupes, and joking 
about our wilful blindness and our 
never surprising one of their rendez- 
vous. It ’s stupid, if you like, but I 
must confess it roils me. 

Pasquinot 

Did you foresee that, Sir Wiseman ? 
Thanks to you, your small boy talks 
like a lunatic, and thinks himself first 
purveyor of mustard to the Pope. 

68 


Scene ill] The Romancers 

Bergamin 

A purveyor whose mustard mounts 
my nostrils ! 

Pasquinot 

I’m going to tell them everything, 
at once ! 

Bergamin 

No, wait ! It won’t do to speak freely 
yet. When once they are married, we 
will talk. Up to the last strains of 
the nuptial violins, let us hold ourselves 
as mute as carps. 

Pasquinot 

So be it then. But here we are, 
caught in our own trap, thanks to your 
famous scheme ! 

Bergamin 

You admired it, my dear. 

Pasquinot 

Ah, ’t was a beautiful scheme ! 

Bergamin {aside) 

He exasperates me ! 


The Romancers [Act II 


SCENE IV 

The Same. Sylvette. 

(She enters gaily, in her hand a flowery 
branch, which she waves at Percinet 
now behind the scenes : then she comes 
down the stage between the two fathers.) 

Sylvette 

Good morning, dear papa ! Good 
morning, my father to be! 

Berg amin 

Good morning, my daughter to be ! 

Sylvette ( imitating him) 

“ Good morning, my daughter to 
be ! ” Why, what a crusty air you have 
this morning ! 

Bergamin 

It ’s Pasquinot who — who — 

70 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

Sylvette {shaking her branch under his 
nose) 

Hush ! hush ! be calm ! I come like 
Peace, waving a palm branch. There 
are still little discords between you? 
Why, that ’s permitted. Could you 
love each other like old friends ? 

Pasquinot {aside) 

What irony ! 

Berg amin {aloud , mockingly ) 

Yes, that is true. Our hatred was 
such that we could not . . . 

Sylvette 

Just think of it! A mortal hatred! 
Oh! when I remember what you said 
of papa, there among your rose trees, 
without suspecting that I was sitting 
behind the good wall, hearing every- 
thing! . . . 

Berg amin {aside) 

She ’s of a stupidity ! . . . 

71 


The Romancers [Act II 

Sylvette (to Pasquinot) 

For I came here every day, you know, 
to meet Percinet. To think that you 
never had a suspicion ! 

Pasquinot ( ironically ) 

Oh ! as to that, may I die if — 

Sylvette 

And yet we always came at the same 
hour. ( To Ber gamin) Ha ! ha ! I hear 
Percinet yet, crying out to you, the 
very day of the abduction : “ I will 

marry in a fashion the most extrava- 
gantly romantic ! ” Tell me, has n’t he 
kept his word ! 

Bekgamin (vexed) 

Really? And you think if I had 
wished — 

Sylvette 

There ! there ! I know from having 
read it a hundred times. The dreams 
of lovers are always realized, and the 
fathers always relent, sooner or later. 

72 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

Some strange and romantic event forces 
them to soften in the nick of time ! 

Pasquinot 

Forces them! ... in the nick of 
time ! Oh, no ! let me laugh ! 

Sylvette 
But we have proved it ! 

Bergamin 

And if I were to tell you — 
Sylvette 

What? 

Bergamin 

Nothing. 

Sylvette 

Then why is your manner so insinu- 
ating ? 

Bergamin 

Why, because . . . {Aside) Ho! it’s 
exasperating at the end ! 

73 


The Romancers [ Act n 


Pasquinot 

When with a word one might — ( Goes 
up the stage ) But we will preserve the 
mystery ! 

Sylvette 

When one has nothing to say, one 
may well keep silent. 

Pasquinot (breaking forth) 

Nothing to say! The little fool! 
Then you believe all that? You think 
things go on as that did? that parks 
are invaded in spite of grilles ? . . . 

Bergamin 

That young girls are still carried off 
by force ? 

Sylvette 

Do I believe it ? What is he saying ? 

Bergamin (his temper rising) 

I ? I say there ’s been enough of it 
— that it ’s time the whole thing were 
unmasked. Yes, since the world was a 
world among worlds, success has been 
74 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

for the blondheads. Bartholo, nursing 
his hatred in secret, must always in- 
cline before Almaviva. But the hour of 
triumph and just requital has finally 
sounded for the gray heads. 

Sylvette 

But — 

Pasquinot 

Once we papas were Cassandre, 
Orgon, Gdronte, were n’t we ? You 
thought no further than these old 
fogies. Well, you don’t find them 
among modern fathers. The deceived 
of other days are deceivers in their 
turn. Had we asked you to love one 
another, neither you nor Percinet would 
have heard a word of it. To forbid it 
was excellent play ! 

Sylvette 

But perhaps then you knew — 

Pasquinot 

Assuredly ! 


75 


The Romancers [Act II 


Sylvette 

Our duos ? 

Bergamen 

I heard their sweet murmurings ! 
Sylvette 

The benches where we climbed? 

Pasqtjinot 
Put there expressly. 

Sylvette 

The duel? 

Bergamen 

Mere feint ! 

Sylvette 
The swordsmen? 

Pasquenot 
Counterfeit ! 

Sylvette 

My abduction ? — oh no ! This is 
false ! 


76 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

Bergamin (fumbling in his pocket) 
False, when I have right here the 
bill of it! 

Sylvette (snatching it away from him) 
Oh! give it to me! (She reads.) 
“ Straforel, Confidential Business House. 
One simulated abduction, to bring about 
engagement of marriage ” ! . . . Oh ! 
. . . “ Eight dark mantles, at five francs 
each ; eight masks ”... 

Bergamin (to Pasquinot') 

I fear me we have spoken too soon. 

Sylvette (reading) 
u One sedan chair, decorated, new de- 
sign, pink upholstery ” — ■ ( With irony ) 
The thing was well done ! (She laughs 
and throws the bill on the table.') 

Pasquinot (surprised) 

She is not angry ? 

Sylvette (pleasantly) 

Ah, it was a charming conceit but a 
great waste of brilliancy. Do you 
77 


The Romancers [Act n 


think, Monsieur Bergamin, that if I 
love my Percinet, it is thanks to your 
stratagem ? 

Pasquinot 
She takes it well. 

Bergamin (to Sylvette) 

You take it well. 

Pasquinot 

One may say, then, to Percinet — 

Sylvette 

Oh, nothing ! — No, say nothing to 
him . . . Men ! — they ’re so stupid ! 

Bergamin 

What good sense ! just look at that 
little head ! and I who thought — {Draw- 
ing out his watch) But the contract — 
we forget; we must make ready for 
that. {Offering his hand to Sylvette) 
Good friends? 

Sylvette 
Do you ask it ? 


78 


Scene V] The Romancers 

Berg amin ( turning again before leaving 
the stage) 

You ’re not at all angry with me ? 

Sylvette ( all honey') 

I assure you ! ( Pasquinot and Ber - 

gamin go out. Sylvette , with frigid rage) 
That Monsieur Bergamin — how I detest 
him ! 


SCENE V 

Sylvette, Percinet. 

Percinet ( enters radiant) 

Ah ! you are here yet ? But I under- 
stand. You cannot quit the site of our 
matchless adventure ! 

Sylvette ( seated on the bench at the left) 
Matchless, in truth ! 

Percinet 

It is here that you, half lifeless, saw 
me, like an Amadis, combat the thirty 
swordsmen ! 


79 


The Romancers [Act II 


Sylvette 

But no ; there were ten. 

Percinet ( drawing nearer) 

Dear, what is the matter ? What 
has made you sad? Those eyes where 
sapphire melts in amethyst seem clouded 
with some grief. 

Sylvette (aside) 

His language is at times rather pre- 
tentious. 

Percinet 

Never mind, I understand the tender 
regret this adorable spot must awaken 
in you. You lament the old wall with 
its creeping greenery, witness of our 
first hopes and fears. Yet it is not 
destroyed, but crowned with glory. Is 
the balcony of Verona no more ? 

Sylvette (impatiently) 

Ah! 

Percinet 

Does not that ever- white balcony let 
tremble endlessly beside the never- 
80 


Scene V] The Romancers 

flowerless pomegranate, in a wind for- 
ever fresh, its imperishable ladder gilded 
by an immortal dawn ? 

Sylvette 

Oh! 

Percinet ( more and more lyric) 

The eternal duo makes the eternal 
scene ; and so, though demolished, it 
rises yet — that wall on which, a wild 
proprietor, our marvellous love pushed 
forth its marvellous shoots ! 

Sylvette {aside) 

He will never end ! 

Percinet {with a smile full of promise) 
But you just now expressed the wish 
to see our story in a poem. That poem — 

Sylvette {disquieted) 

Well? 

Percinet 

I am rhyming it myself. 

6 81 


The Romancers [Act II 


Sylvette 

You know how to make verses ? 
Percinet 

Pah ! do I know how to fence ? Listen 
to the beginning. I made it as I came. 
“ The Hostile Fathers.” Poem. 

Sylvette 

Oh! 

Perclnet ( posing to declaim) 
Canto First. 


Sylvette 

Oh! 

Percinet 

What ails you? 

Sylvette 

Happiness — my nerves — a sudden 
faintness ! (She dissolves in tears.) Let 
me compose myself. (She turns her 
back to him, and hides her face in her 
handkerchief.') 


82 


Scene v] The Romancers 

Percinet ( stupefied ) 

I will leave yon. {Then, aside , with a 
superior smile) On a day like this, such 
distress is natural. ( He goes to the right, 
sees the paper on the table, and quickly 
drawing a pencil from his pocket, seats 
himself saying ) I’ll jot down the verses, 
nevertheless. {He takes the paper, gets 
ready to write , but stops, pencil in air, 
and reads ) “ I, Straforel, pretending to 
fall, pierced by a skilless blade ; — cos- 
tume injured, ten francs ; dignity, forty.” 
{Smiling) What is this? {Continues 
reading, low. His smile dies out, his eyes 
grow wide.) 

Sylvette {still on the bench, wiping 
away her tears') 

If he only knew, he would fall from 
his heights ! I nearly betrayed myself. 
I must be careful. 

Percinet 

Ho! ... ho! ... ho! 

Sylvette 

What did you say ? 

83 


The Romancers [Act n 


Percinet (hiding the bill with despatch ) 
I ? Nothing, nothing ! 

Sylvette (i aside ) 

His error tortures me ! 

Percinet (aside) 

That is why the body was not found. 

Sylvette (aside, rising) 

He seems piqued. I must make up 
with him. (She turns around , then , see- 
ing he does not stir, coquettishly ) You 
haven’t said anything about my dress 

Percinet (indifferent) 

Blue does not become you. I prefer 
you in pink. 

Sylvette (aside, alarmed) 

Blue does not become me ! Can he 
know anything ? (Looking at the table) 
The account ... I must indeed have 
put it there ! 


84 


Scene V] The Romancers 

Pekcinet ( seeing her look about') 
What’s the matter with you that you 
turn round and round like that ? 

Sylvette 

Nothing. (Aside) A paper — the 
wind sometimes blows it away. {Aloud, 
shaking out her skirt) I was turning 
to see how my dress goes. (Aside) I 
shall very soon know if he has found it. 
(Aloud) Hm ! You were just going to 
recite some verses on our love. ( Per - 
cinet starts. She takes his arm, and, 
very sweetly) Say them ! 

Percinet 

Oh, no ! 

Sylvette (ironically) 

On our adventure ! 

Percinet 

They are only just begun, you know, 
I ’ve not arrived at — 

Sylvette 
The detailed account ? 


85 


The Romancers [Act 1 1 


Percinet 

Yes, the — ( whirling around and look- 
ing at her) Pardon, but — 

Sylvette 
But, pardon — 

Percinet (aside) 

Ah, she knows, then ? 

Sylvette 
He knows, then ? 

Both 

You know, then? (A moment passes : 
they break into laughter.) Ha ! ha ! ha ! 

Percinet 
Is n’t it comical ? 

Sylvette 
Very comical ! 

Percinet 

In truth, they made us play a r6le I 
Sylvette 


A role ! 


86 


Scene V] The Romancers 


Percinet 

So our fathers were good neighbors? 

Sylvette 
Good friends ! 

Percinet 

Upon my word, they should even 
have been cousins ! 

Sylvette (with a courtesy ) 

I ’m to marry my cousin ! 

Percinet 

I ’m to marry my cousin ! 

Sylvette 
It ’s charming ! 

Percinet 

It ’s classic ! 

Sylvette 

True, one can imagine a marriage 
more — but it’s so good to see love 
accord with duty! 


87 


The Romancers [Act II 


Percinet 

And with interest ! F or these two 
parks — their dependency — 

Sylvette 

In short, excellent marriage of con- 
venience. We are far from our poor 
idyl on the wall ! 

Percinet 

There ’s nothing to be said of idyls, 
that is very sure. 

Sylvette 

I go back to the rank and file of 
young girls. 

Percinet 

I am the prosaic fiancd of every-day 
life ! And ’t was as Romeo, Sylvette, 
that I pleased you ! 

Sylvette 

Ah ! Romeo ! ’t is clear that you are 
he no longer. 


Scene V] The Romancers 
Percinet 

’ And do yon still think to be J uliet ? 

Sylvette 
You become bitter. 

Percinet 

And you, in truth, a trifle cutting. 
Sylvette 

If you have been ridiculous, is the 
fault mine, pray ? 

Percinet 

If I was a little so, I was not alone. 
Sylvette 

Very well, so 'be it : we were ridicu- 
lous. Ah, my poor blue bird, how your 
plumes have faded ! 

Percinet ( ' jeeringly ) 

Ha ! a simili-assault ! 

Sylvette 

And pseudo-sword-thrusts ! 

89 


The Romancers [Act II 


Percinet 

Fie, the false abduction ! 

Sylvette 

Ho ! the tinsel hero ! Alas, our poor 
poesy was mockery ! In bursting thus 
before our wondering eyes, fair irides- 
cent bubble, you are no more than a 
little soapsuds spattering on one’s nose ! 

Percinet 

Then lover whose sorriest counterfeit 
I was, and mistress in whose shoes she 
stood unmeetly — O pale and noble 
Shakespearean couple, we had nothing 
in common with you, nothing! 

Sylvette 

Nothing! 

Percinet 

Then instead of playing the divine 
and beloved drama, we have played an 
infamous parody ! 

Sylvette 

So our nightingale was a canary ! 

90 


Scene V] The Romancers 


Percinet 

So the immortal wall was a stage for 
marionettes, and when each day we 
appeared there at half length, instead of 
two paragons of Love’s eternal types, 
we were no more than two puppets set 
dancing by the rude paternal fingers ! 

Sylvette 

True. But we should be still more 
ridiculous if we loved each other less. 

Percinet 

We will love each other madly! In 
the first place, we are obliged to love ! 

Sylvette 

But we adore each other ! 

Percinet 

The word is not too strong. 

Sylvette 

Love can well solace a like disaster — 
is it not so, my treasure ? 

91 


The Romancers [Act II 


Percinet 

Assuredly, my star ! 

Sylyette 

Good day, then, my dear love ! 

Percinet 

Good night, my beauty ! 

Sylyette 

I go to dream of you, dear soul, for 
my part. 

Percinet 

And I of you, for mine. Good day ! 

Sylyette 

Good night ! ( She goes out.) 

Percinet 

Oh, for example ! Oh ! to be treated 
like this ! . . . But who is that be-mus- 
tached gentleman, showing so strange a 
doublet beneath his ample cloak ? I do 
not know him. ( Straforel , entering as 
these words are spoken, pompously de- 
scends the stage.) 


92 


Scene vi] The Romancers 


SCENE VI 

Percinet, Straforel. 
Percinet 

What is it ? 

Straforel ( smiling ) 

It is to get a little sum. 

Percinet 

A caterer ? 

Straforel 

Precisely. Go, then, good young man, 
and tell your papa I am waiting for him. 

Percinet 

Your name? 

Straforel 
My name is Straforel. 

Percinet ( staggered ) 

He ? Oh no, oh no ! This becomes 
too intolerable ! 


93 


The Romancers [Act II 

Straforel ( smiling ) 

What, what ! You know, then, young 
man? 

Percinet ( throwing him the bill , which 
he draws in bits from his pocket) 

Wretch ! it was you ! 

Straforel 

Tut, tut ! Yes, it was I, by Bacchus ! 
Percinet 

Oh ! to encounter this man ! . . . I 
would fly to the ends of the earth ! . . . 

Straforel {with satisfied air) 

And I am so plump and rosy that the 
quotation, it seems to me, imposes itself : 
Les gens que vous tuez se portent — 

Percinet {rushing on him , sword in 
hand) 

You shall see ! 

94 


Scene vi] The Romancers 

Straforel ( 'parrying with his arm, 
tranquil as a fencing master giving a 
lesson) 

Hand high ! foot forward ! Not to be 
more expert at your age, monsieur, is 
a crime ! ( By a dexterous movement, he 

relieves him of his sword, and returns it 
to him with a i bow.) What! you end 
your fencing lesson so soon ? 


Precinet ( exasperated , taking back his 
sword) 

Oh, I ’m going away ! They treat me 
like a child : good ! I will take my 
revenge ! I will have romance, reality, 
adventures and duels to scandalize the 
shade of Don Juan ! ( He goes off run - 

ning, brandishing his sword.) 


Straforel 

Very good! very good! but now 
shall I be paid ? 


95 


The Romancers [Act II 


SCENE VII 

Straforel, Bergamin, Pasquinot. 

Straforel ( looking into the wings ) 

Hey ! stop there ! ... If here is n’t 
another fracas! ( Enter Bergamin and 
Pasquinot , disordered as after a scuffle.) 

Pasquinot ( readjusting himself , and 
handing Bergamin his peruke') 

Here ’s your peruke ! 

Bergamin 

Humph ! and here ’s yours ! 

Pasquinot 

You understand that after such pro- 
ceedings . . . Here ’s your frill ! 

Bergamin 

And you will admit that to live with 
you longer would be too great a sacri- 
fice to the happiness of my son. 

96 


Scene viii] The Romancers 

Pasquinot ( sees Sylvette coming') 

My daughter! Of all things, let us 
hide this from her ! 


SCENE VIII 

The same. Sylvette, then Blaise, the 
Notary , Witnesses , Violins and Guests. 

Sylvette ( throwing herself on her 
father’s neck ) 

Papa, I don’t want to marry Percinet ! 
{Enter the notary . and four bourgeois in 
gala dress , the witnesses.) 

Bergamin 

The witnesses ! The notary ! . . . 
The devil take them! 

The Witnesses ( astonished ) 

Eh? 

The Notary (with dignity) 

These words — 

7 


97 


The Romancers [Act n 


Straforel (in the midst of the tumult , 
picking up the bill Percinet has thrown 
down ) 

My account — pay it ! Ninety pis- 
toles ! (Enter guests, and three violins 
playing a minuet.) 

Berg AMIN (beside himself, striking out 
in all directions') 

To the devil with the violins ! (The 
violins continue automatically their min- 
uet.) • 

Straforel (impatiently, to Bergamin) 
Well, sir, my hand is open ! 

Bergamin 
Talk to Pasquinot ! 

Pasquinot 
Talk to Bergamin ! 

Straforel (emphasizing the words of 
the bill) 

“ Simulated abduction to bring about 
engagement of marriage.” 


Scene viii] The Romancers 
Berg amin 

The engagement is broken; that re- 
moves the obligation. 

Straforel (to Pasquinot ) 

But, monsieur — 

Pasquinot 

Give you a sou, now that everything 
is ended? You are mad ! 

Bergamin (to whom Blaise has just 
spoken in a low tone) 

My son ! . . . gone ! 

Sylvette ( bewildered ) 

Gone ! 

Straforel ( who is going up the stage , 
stops and observes her) 

Aha! 

Bergamin 

After him ! Fly ! (He runs off \ fol- 
lowed by the notary and guests.) 

Sylvette {greatly moved) 

Gone ! 


99 


The Romancers [Act n 


Straforel ( coming back to observe her 
more closely ) 

If I could heal the breach between 
these pretties — hm ! perhaps — 

Sylvette {suddenly furious) 
Gone! Oh, it is too much! (Exit, 
followed by Pasquinot.') 

Straforel ( triumphant ) 
Straforel, my dear, to get your ninety 
pistoles, you have to patch up this mar- 
riage ! ( He goes off. The three violins , 

left alone in the middle of the stage , con- 
tinue their minuet.) 

Curtain. 


100 


Scene I] The Romancers 


Act Third 

Same setting. Material has been brought 
for reconstructing the wall , which is going 
up in the rear. Sacks of plaster, mason’s 
tools. 


SCENE I 

Bergamin, Pasquinot, a Mason. 

Each from his side is inspecting the work. 
The mason is troweling , sitting on his 
heels , his back to the audience. 

The Mason ( singing as he works') 
Tra lai delurio . . . 

Bergamin 

These workmen are slow. 

The Mason 

Delurio, deluro . . . 

101 


The Romancers [Act ill 


Pasquinot ( ( following his motions with 
satisfaction') 

That ’s it ! some rubble ! 

Bergamin ( same action) 

Ouf ! a dab of mortar ! 

Pasquinot 
Pf ! a trowel pat ! 

The Mason (making cadenzas) 
Delurio, delu-ri-i-i-el-le ! 

Pasquinot (coming down the stage) 
Fine voice, but uncommonly slow 
work ! 

Bergamin (also coming down , in boister- 
ous good humor) 

Ha ! ha ! Here ’s one panel begun ! 
Good! 

Pasquinot ( tapping with his foot ground 
yet to be covered) 

By to-morrow, the wall will be two 
feet high here ! . . . Oh joy ! 

102 


Scene I] The Romancers 

Berg AMIN (becoming lyrical ) 

May I soon see thy towering form 
again, beloved wall! 

Pasquinot 
What did you say, sir ? 

Bergamin 

I was not speaking to you. (Some 
moments pass.) What do you do in the 
evening, after dinner ? 

Pasquinot 
Nothing. And you? 

Bergamin 

Nor I either. (A time passes . They 
salute and promenade .) 

Pasquinot (stopping) 

There’s no news, then, from your 
son ? 

Bergamin 

None. He ’s still abroad. 

103 


The Romancers [Act ill 


Pasquinot 

He will soon be relieved of his 
money, and then he’ll come back sure 
enough. 

Bergamin 

Thanks ! ( They bow and promenade. 

Time passes.) 

Pasquinot (stopping once more) 

Now that the wall is going up again, 
monsieur, I ’m quite willing to have 
you come in sometimes — as a neighbor. 

Bergamin 

Very well. I may do you the honor. 
( They salute.') 

Pasquinot (brusquely) 

Good! Then come have a game of 
piquet ! 

Bergamin ( gruffly ) 

Ha! ... ho! . . . pardon! I don’t 
know whether I can — 

Pasquinot 

Since I invite you. 

104 


Scene II] The Romancers 
Bergamin 

Hm ! . . . I should prefer bazique. 

Pasquinot 
Come on then. 

Bergamin ( i following him out ) 

You owe me ten sous from the last 
time. ( Turns around ) Work well, 
Mason ! 

The Mason (at the top of his voice ) 
Tralai! . . . 

Pasquinot 

Fine voice ! ( They go off.) 


SCENE II 

Straforel, then Sylvette. 

As soon as they are gone y the mason turns , 
takes off his hat: it is Straforel . 

Straforel 

Yes, mason I am, since under this 
smirch I ’ve come here to plaster. (Sits 


The Romancers [Act III 


down on the bit of wall begun.) The 
young man is still on the chase for the 
Romantic, but without being a seer, one 
may predict that he ’ll come back with- 
out game, and broken to harness. Since 
Life then has charged herself with giv- 
ing him a salutary bath in reality, and 
will open the eyes of the chicken and in 
time send him winging this way, I, by 
a wise and like course of action, seek to 
cure Sylvette of her taste for adventure. 
Straforel, man of many talents, you 
often played the marquis or the prince, 
those days when you were catcalled in 
the provinces ! That is going to serve 
us. ( He draws a letter from his smock , 
and puts it in the mossy hollow of a tree 
trunk.) Ah, fathers, what thanks you 
will owe me! ( Catching sight of Syl- 
vette) There she is! To my cement! 
(He returns to his troweling and disap- 
pears behind the wall.) 

Sylvette (< advances furtively , looks to 
see if she is observed , then) 

No ! no one ! ( She throws her muslin 
106 


Scene IIJ The Romancers 

scarf over the bench at the left.) To-day 
shall I find the letter? ( Goes toward 
the tree) Every day a gallant unknown 
comes to put one here, in this trunk 
split open by the lightning — this green- 
painted letter-box. ( She thrusts her hand 
into the hollow of the tree.') Yes, this is 
my good courier ! (She reads) — “ Syl- 
vette, heart of marble, you hold here 
the final letter from out this heart of 
green — why, tigress, have you not re- 
plied to the magic fruit this tree has so 
long daily borne for you?” — Ah! what 
a style ! — “ The love which in my soul 
mutters like distant thunder ” — (She 
tears the letter nervously .) Ah ! Monsieur 
Percinet is running the world over ! He 
is right, and I will do the same ! Do 
they think I’m going to stay here to 
die of dulness ! Whoever wrote these 
words, let him come! let him rise out 
of these green shrubs with their nests 
and their chants, and just as I am, 
without even going for a hat, I will fol- 
low him. I am ready now for Romance 

at any cost. Let the gentleman come 
107 


The Romancers [Act m 


— I already almost love him. How I 
would stretch out my hands to him, if 
he came, and how — 

Straforel (in a ringing voice) 

He is here ! 

Sylvette 

Help ! Percinet ! ( Retreating as Stra- 
forel advances.) Man, do not approach 
me ! 

Straforel (< amorously ) 

Why this hostile air ? I am he whose 
style you were just now admiring, the 
too highly favored mortal whose mis- 
sive pleased you, and on whose love you 
were relying — if one may trust your 
words — to be seized and borne far 
beyond pursuit! 

Sylvette (not knowing what to do) 
Man ! 

Straforel 

You take me for a mason! — That’s 
delicious ! Know, then, that I am the 
Marquis of Astafiorquercita, fevered 
108 


Scene II] The Romancers 

mind, cankered heart, who, seeking to 
spice a too tasteless existence, wander 
in the fashion of an errant knight with 
whose soul a poet dreamer’s mingles. 
It was to penetrate your park, O cruel 
beauty, — it was for love of you that I 
took up the trowel! ( With an elegant 
gesture he throws aside his trowel, divests 
himself of his smock, takes off his hat , 
white with plaster, and appears in the 
glittering costume of an Almaviva, blond 
peruke, fetching mustachios.') 

Sylvette 

Monsieur ! 

Straforel 

From a certain Straforel I learned 
your story. A blind, unreasoning love 
for the poor victim, dreamy innocent, 
o’ercame me ! 


Sylvette 

Marquis ! 

Straforel 

Do not look so bewildered. The 
109 


The Romancers [Act ill • 


scoundrel having boasted of the r6le 
he ’d played, I killed him ! 

Sylvette 

Killed him ! . . . 

Straforel 

With a single sword thrust ! — To be 
an avenger was ever my mania ! 

Sylvette 

Monsieur ! 

Straforel 

I understand you, O dear heart mis- 
construed ! You want am I not 
right? — Romance at any price. 

Sylvette 

Marquis ! . . . indeed . . . 

Straforel 

’Tis settled then. To-night T will 
abduct you! 

Sylvette 


Monsieur — 


no 


Scene II] The Romancers 

Straforel 

And for good ! 

Sylvette 

Monsieur ! 

Straforel 

Ah, what a lovely dream ! You gave 
consent! I heard you! Yes, to-day we 
will take our mad flight, and if your 
papa go distracted from grief, so much 
the worse ! 

Sylvette 

Monsieur . . . 

Straforel 

And if they close in on our track — 
for abductors are rigorously pursued — 
so much the better! 

Sylvette 

O monsieur ! 

Straforel 

So much the better, in truth! We 
can fly on foot, in a tempestuous night, 
our brows bared to the rain and the 
raging wind! 


ill 


The Romancers [Act ill 


Sylvette 
Monsieur . . . 

Straforel 

And to gain some far-off continent, 
madam, we will embark headlong ! 

Sylvette 
Monsieur . . . 

Straforel 

And far, far away, on a soil as yet 
untrod, where we shall live happy in 
sacking and serge . . . 

Sylvette 
Ah! but . . . 

Straforel 

For I have nothing! You wouldn’t 
wish me to have anything, would you ? 

Sylvette 

Indeed ! 

Straforel 

Our sole refreshment shall be bread, 

— bread moistened with tender tears ! 
112 


Scene II] The Romancers 

Sylvette 

And yet . . . 

Straforel 

Exile for us shall blossom with 
delights ! 

Sylvette 

Monsieur . . . 

Straforel 

And misery for us shall be but bliss ! 
Not even a rude hut! ... A tent! — 
thy heart ! 

Sylvette 

A tent ? 

Straforel 

Yes indeed, yes ! Four pickets, two 
flaps ! Or if you ’d rather, nothing but 
the stars ! 

Sylvette 

Oh, but . . . 

Straforel 

What ! do I see you seized with 
trembling? You would perhaps not go 
8 113 


The Romancers [Act hi 


so far away? Be it so ! We will live 
in hiding, O my blond deity, alone, 
having incurred the vengeance of the 
world ! — Oh rapture ! . . . 

Sylvette 

But monsieur, you mistake . . . 

Straforel 

Men will hold aloof from us in scorn ! 

Sylvette 

Ah me ! 

Straforel 

Prejudice is made to trample under 
foot. The world’s contempt will be 
felicity ! 

Sylvette 

Monsieur . . . 

Straforel 

I shall have no other occupation than 
to play upon the gamut of my passion ! 

Sylvette 

Monsieur . . . 


114 


Scene ii] The Romancers 

Straforel 

In brief, we will live in lush poesy 
... I shall have outbursts of jealous 
frenzy — 

Sylvette 

Monsieur . . . 

Straforel 

And when I ’m jealous, you know, 
I ’ve the ferocity of jackals and of 
wolves ! 

Sylvette ( overcome , falls fainting on 
the bench ) 

Monsieur ! 

Straforel 

If you. should break our hallowed 
bonds, you would be butchered straight! 

Sylvette 

Monsieur ! 

Straforel 

You shudder? 

Sylvette 

Ah, Heaven, what a lesson ! 

115 


The Romancers [Act ill 


Straforel 

Body of Bacchus ! Is it blood or 
froth runs through your arterial tubes ? 
By thunder! You have an air a bit 
school-girlish for daring such precarious 
fortunes. Let’s see, do I go alone, or 
do we go together? 

Sylvette 
Monsieur . . . 

Straforel 

Yes, I understand; my voice reas- 
sures you. Ah well, we will set out, 
now that I see you strong. I will 
abduct you at once, on horseback, 
across my saddle. Oh, you will be on 
the rack ! but sedan chairs, easy and 
aesthetic, are in the mode for false ab- 
ductions only ! 

Sylvette 
But, monsieur . . . 

Straforel ( goes up the stage ) 

Till I return! 


116 


Scene II] The Romancers 

Sylvette 
But, monsieur ! 

Straforel 

Till I return ! The time to go in 
search of a horse — a cloak — 

Sylvette ( beside herself) 
Monsieur ! 

Straforel (with a magnificent gesture ) 
And we will flee from land to land ! 
Oh, the long-time dreamt-of and at last 
encountered ! — the soul to whom my 
soul may say : “ My sister ! ” Till I re- 
turn, and then for ever ! 

Sylvette ( faintly ) 

For ever ! 

Straforel 

Oh nectar ! You are to live beside the 
beloved being for whom you yearned 
before you knew him, and who, not 
knowing you, for you was parching! 
(Sees her fainting on the bench.) And 
now, Percinet, you may come back ! 
(He goes out.') 


117 


The Romancers [Act ill 


SCENE III 

Sylvette {alone, opening her eyes) 
Monsieur ! . . . Marquis ! . . .No, not 
across the saddle ! Have pity on me ! 
— No, I am not the one — not at all! 
Let me go in! — A school-girl? Yes, 
you are right ! . . . He ’s no longer 
there ? . . . Marquis ! . . . Alone ? . . . 
Ah, Heaven ! what a frightful dream ! 
{A little time. She recovers herself.) I 
like better being abducted in play! 
Well, well, Sylvette! how is this, my 
dear! A little while ago you were 
beckoning the Romantic, with great 
cries, and the Romantic come, you are 
not satisfied? Oh, sacking, exile, the 
tent, the stars ! — no, that is too much ! 
A little romance, yes, like a little pars- 
ley in one’s soup, but this is too much ! 
I can not endure these shocks. I would 
content myself with gentler emotions. 

. . . {Twilight falling veils the park. 
She takes up her scarf, dropped on the 
bench, covers with it her head and shoul - 
118 


Scene IV] The Romancers 


ders , and, pensive) — Who knows if?. . . 
( Percinet appears, in rags, his arm in a 
sling, scarcely able to move . A felt hat, 
from which droops a bedraggled plume, 
conceals his face.) 


SCENE IV 
Sylvette, Percinet. 

Percinet ( not yet seen by Sylvette) 

I ’ve eaten nothing since yesterday. 
I am ready to fall from fatigue, and my 
pride is gone. Oh, the mad prank! 
I ’ve seen hard things, and found little 
amusement in adventure ! ( He sinks on 
the wall. His hat falls off, uncovering 
his face. Sylvette sees him.) 

Sylvette 

You! ( He gets up, overcome by emo- 
tion) And in what a state! Is it 
possible ! 

Percinet (piteously) 

It is possible. 


119 


The Romancers [Act hi 


Sylvette ( clasping her hands) 
Kind Heaven ! 

Percinet 

Don’t you think I have somewhat the 
profile painters give the Prodigal Son? 
{He reels.') 

Sylvette 
He cannot stand ! 

Percinet 
I feel a trifle weary. 

Sylvette {seeing his arm; with a cry) 
Wounded* 


Percinet 

Could you then be pitiful to ingrates ? 

Sylvette (severely, moving away) 

Only fathers, monsieur, kill the fatted 
calf. (Percinet makes a movement , and 
his wounded arm forces from him a gri- 
mace. Sylvette, frightened in spite of her - 
self) — But this wound? 

120 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

Percinet 

Let me reassure you ; the wound is 
by no means grave. 

Sylvette 

And what, sir vagabond, have you 
been doing all this time ? 

Percinet 

Nothing good, Sylvette. ( He coughs.') 

Sylvette 

You cough now? 

Percinet 

Ah yes ! we tramped the highways, at 
night . . . 

Sylvette 

And there one catches cold. . . . What 
strange clothes you wear ! 

Percinet 

Robbers took mine, Sylvette, and gave 
me theirs. 

Sylvette (with irony) 

And how much good fortune have 
you had ? 


121 


The Romancers [Act ill 


Percinet 

Don’t ask such inopportune questions, 
Sylvette. 

Sylvette 

You have climbed many balconies, no 
doubt ? 

Percinet (aside) 

I just missed breaking my neck ! 

Sylvette 

Guitar in hand, have chanted many a 
nocturne ? 

Percinet (aside) 

And brought more than one little 
water-jar to empty on my head! 

Sylvette 

At last, it seems, scratched in a real 
duel ? 

Percinet (aside) 

Which cost me an almost mortal 
thrust. 

Sylvette 

And you come back to us ? . . . 

122 


Scene IV] The Romancers 


Percinet 
Humble, pitiful ! 

Sylvette 

Yes, but you at least found the Poetic. 
Percinet 

No, I went far to seek what was very 
near. Ah, mock me no longer ! . . . I 
adore you ! 

Sylvette 

After the disillusion that we had ? 

Percinet 
What does that matter ! 

Sylvette 

But our fathers deceived us horribly. 
Percinet 

What does that matter ! All is clear 
now in my heart — 

Sylvette 

But they feigned their hatred. 

123 


The Romancers [Act ill 


Percinet 

Did we feign onr love ? 

Sylvette 

The wall was a puppet stage, — you 
said it yourself! 

Percinet 

Sylvette, I said it, but Twas blas- 
phemy! — Or if ’twas true, what pup- 
pet stage, old wall, you offered us ! — 
It had for flies, the great fresh branches, 
for perspective, the out-stretching park, 
and azure space for frieze; for orches- 
tra, unseen and sensible, the four winds ; 
for properties, the borders and bright 
flowers ; for lamp, the sun, and Shake- 
speare for the prompter! Yes, as one 
makes those puppets gesture in whose 
blouse one gloves his hand, so our 
fathers did with us ; but remember, 
Sylvette, on our mimic stage, it was 
love that made the puppets speak ! 

Sylvette 

True, but we thought we were loving 
culpably. 


124 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

Percinet ( earnestly ) 

And we were. Keep that pleasant 
compunction. The intention counts as 
much as the deed. In thinking our- 
selves criminal we were so ! 

Sylvette ( weakening ) 

Is that quite sure ? 

Percinet 

Quite sure, dear little friend. We 
have committed an infamy, pure and 
simple. I call to witness your balmy 
breath and your beauty. To love each 
other was very wrong — very wrong. . . . 

Sylvette ( seating herself near him') 
Very wrong? ( Changing her mood' 
and moving away again.) Yes, but I 
regret a little, for the sake of our re- 
nown, that the danger run was only 
imaginary ! 

Percinet 

It was real for us who believed it so. 

125 


The Romancers [Act hi 


Sylvette 

No, my abduction was false, and so 
was your duel ! 

Percinet 

Was your fear, madam? and since 
you have passed through the state of 
mind of a person abducted, ’t is exactly 
as if you had been really. 

Sylvette 

No, the dear remembrance is no more. 

. . . Those gay lights, those masks and 
mantles, the soft music, the combat, — 
it’s too cruel to think that it was all 
made by Straforel! 

Percinet 

And the vernal night, is it he who 
made that? Is it he who ordered that 
gala time which friendly April gave us ? 
Was it he who starred the starry sky? 
he who with shadow so blotted out the 
slender rose trees, that the roses seemed 
in some unearthly way to stand spell- 
stopped in the mysterious air ? Did he 
126 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

dispense the trembling grays, the play 
of blue light? Was it he who poured 
the languors round about? Did he 
count in the appearing of the star of 
silvery rose? 


Sylvette 

No, surely. 

Percinet 

And did he make it that in that night 
of spring we were two children of 
twenty years, and that we loved each 
other ? — For the charm was there — all 
the charm, Sylvette. 

Sylvette 

All the . . . yes . . . but . . . 


Percinet 

A tear? He is pardoned, then, the 
wayward fellow who went abroad in the 
world ? 

Sylvette 

I have always loved you, — fie ! my 
poor dear! 


127 


The Romancers [Act ill 


Percinet 

And I have found again your fore- 
head with its childish fringe. (He plays 
with Sylvette* s scarf.) Oh, let me kiss 
the tenuous border of the filmy veil that 
floats back from your brow! How it 
refreshes my lips, this tissue, this tissue 
fine and pure, for which I did not know 
how to disdain satins and velvets that 
compromise ! 

Sylvette 

What satins ? What velvets ? 

Percinet ( ardently ) 

Nothing, nothing ! — rags ! Oh young 
girl, child, muslin is thy name ! How I 
love this fresh veil ! 

Sylvette 

It ’s lawn. 

Percinet (on his "knees ) 

I love it, and tremble lest my kiss do 
it ill ; for this veil to which I kneel, 

128 


Scene IV] The Romancers 

This filmy lawn 
That muffles you, 

But in the way 
The zephyrs do ; 

This lawn of film, 

This frail, pure thing, 
That rides the ether 
Like a wing ; 

This filmy lawn 

A ray has power — 

So subtile is it — 

To deflower ; 

This lawn of film 
Like gossamer 
The Virgin floats 
On summer air ; 

This filmy lawn, 

It is thy thought, 
Uncrushed as yet 

By what life ’s wrought ! 

This lawn of film, 

This flame of snow 
A mere naught stirs — 

Thy soul, I trow ! 

129 


9 


The Romancers [Act in 


This filmy lawn 
Beloved of me, 

*T is naught at all 
Unless ’t is thee ! 

Sylvette (in his arms') 

Poetry, you see, is in the hearts of 
lovers ; it comes not solely from adven- 
tures. 

Percinet 

That is true. Those from which I 
return, though very real, were not at 
all poetical, Sylvette. 

Sylvette 

And those arranged by our Machia- 
velic papas were poetical though false. 

Percinet 

For when the soul loves, she can em- 
broider true flowers on a false woof. 

Sylvette 

Poetry, love ! — why, we were fools 
to seek it elsewhere when it was within 
us ! 


130 


Scene V] The Romancers 


SCENE V 

The same. Straforel, Bergamin, 
Pasquinot. 

Straforel ( Leads in the fathers and 
shows them Sylvette and Percinet in each 
other's arms.) Betrothed once more ! 

Bergamin 

My son ! ( He embraces Percinet. ) 

Straforel 
Will you pay my bill ? 

Pasquinot (to his daughter') 

You love him again? 

Sylvette 

Yes. 

Pasquinot 

Linnet ! 

Straforel (to Bergamin ) 

Shall I have my gold ? 

131 


The Romancers 


[Act in 


Berg am in 

You shall have your gold! 

Sylvette ( trembling ) 

But, in truth . . . that voice ! . . . 
The Marquis of As-ta-fi-or — 

Straforel 

— quercita. ’T was I, dear lady, I, 
Straforel. Pardon my ardor, I beseech 
you. The method that I took was good 
in this, that it left you here, and still 
made you know' all the weariness of 
those adventures which, once experi- 
enced, so soon bring disillusion. With- 
out doubt you might, {pointing to 
Percinet) like this citizen, run through 
them for yourself ; but that method, 
forsooth ! being somewhat rough for a 
young girl, I showed you them in a 
magic lantern. 

Percinet 

What is this ? 

Sylvette (quickly) 

Nothing, nothing ! I love you ! 

132 


Scene V] The Romancers 


Berg AMIN ( pointing to the rising wall ) 
To-morrow, rap ! a pickax stroke, and 
this panel of the wall is down ! 

Pasquinot 

To-morrow, away with cement, sand 
and rubble ! 


Straforel 

No, rebuild the wall ; it is indispen- 
sable. 

Sylvette ( bringing all the actors around 
her) 

And now we four, and Monsieur Stra- 
forel, crave indulgence for the piece, in 
a rondel. 

Sylvette 

Costumes light and easy rhymes. 

Love in a garden, piping on the oboe . . . 

Berg amin 

A Florianesque and blithe quintetto. 
Pasquinot 

Discord, j 7 es, but passed betimes. 

133 


The Romancers [Act ill 


Straforel 

Rays of the sun, and moonbeam chimes ; 
A swordsman dight in a gay mantello. 

Sylvette 

Costumes light and easy rhymes, 

Love in a garden, piping on the oboe . . . 

Percinet 

An artless change from ranting mimes, 
Some music here, a bit of Watteau, 

A decent play and short libretto, 

Old wall, lovers, scented thymes. 

Sylvette 

Costumes light and easy rhymes ! 


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